"And so the shadows fall apart, Such is the gentle, reverent, loving spirit which so graciously crowns the closing years of his life. To those who have felt its tender influence it is more beautiful than any poem that ever flowed from his inspired pen; and they can repeat with grateful remembrance the fitting tribute of Phoebe Cary, "But not thy strains, with courage rife, Newport, R.I. GEORGE W. CUTTER. THE NEW THEOLOGY.* In Dr. Bascom's recently published book bearing the above title, we have a discussion of fundamental religious problems and principles by a man of great vigor and independence of thought, of incisive and practical spirit, and of luminous style. The book is not a systematic theology so much as a religious philosophy, a manful and earnest effort to interpret life in terms which shall at once express both modern thought and religious sentiment. It is written from the platform of scientific truth, in sympathy with the spirit of progress, but also as the expression of a very deep religious conviction. It is widely separated from much that has passed current under the name of the "New Theology," from Andover Seminary and other sources. It is profoundly different in both matter and method, being both more radical and more lucid. There is here no verbal jugglery, keeping the old word while smuggling into it a new meaning; no effort to weld together both tradition and rationalism in a compromise which is as weak as it is unworthy of respect. While the heart is reverent, the eye is wide open and declares frankly what it sees. Moreover, the once prominent topics of theology-incarnation, atonement, probation here occupy little or no space. Dr. Bascom has taken a fresh view of religion, and his discussion runs along those deeper lines which make the consideration of such topics *THE NEW THEOLOGY. By John Bascom. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. pp. 217. $1.50. superfluous. They are not attacked, but ignored, because from his point of view they have disappeared from the landscape. Dr. Bascom at the beginning asserts the existence of the law of progress in religion, and he rightly characterizes the transformations in progress as a movement toward deeper religious life rather than as a mere reconstruction of dogmatic theology: "The New Theology is, after all, not a theology. There is no creed that we can call the new creed; there is no conclusion or series of conclusions that occupies, in this movement, any more a final position than do other allied convictions. The New Theology is not a creed, but a tendency: it is not a result, but a movement." The first chapter, "Naturalism," is a discussion of the inevitable influence of the scientific spirit upon religious doctrines and methods. The influence of the idea of law upon the thought of God is fully recognized. The problem of authority in religion is reconstrued from the standpoint of the scientific method. Here the nature of revelation and the position of Scripture are treated in a thoroughly rational manner. The question recently raised by Prof. Briggs is disposed of without any quibbling, in pleasing contrast with much that is written on this subject. This brief but explicit sentence is significant: "This belief of a sufficient and final statement of religious truth in the Scriptures lacks proof." How refreshing is such clearness and candor as here expressed! "The doctrine of the trinity assumed form in the midst of theosophic and gnostic speculations. Occult conceptions, foreign to our experience and alien to the Christian temper, find expression in it." One will find in this chapter little specific information respecting the Bible; but one will find a very satisfactory statement of what our attitude toward the Bible ought to be. In the next chapter, "The Supernatural," there will be found some things which men of scientific training will probably set aside as unsatisfactory. Dr. Bascom understands by the supernatural something far different than the old idea of the miraculous, which meant little more than the monstrous; and, while he defines his terms clearly, yet it may well be questioned whether all his distinctions are either founded upon reality or serviceable for religion. He retains his be lief in Jesus' resurrection, more from philosophical prepossession than from the coherence of the evidence; and this will look to many like a needless surrender to tradition in order to defend the spirituality of human life. However, there is much in this discussion of a difficult subject which is both helpful and suggestive; and yet the conviction deepens as we turn these tonic pages. Here still linger some of the unrejected fictions of traditional dogma. Dr. The third chapter, "Dogmatism," brings into clear view the barrenness and harmfulness of theological dogmatism. Dr. Bascom here enters into a caustic but just criticism of Dr. Charles Hodge for his misuse of Scripture, for his violation of the inductive method, and for his dogmatic spirit where reason ought to have been free and active. He is severe in his condemnation of those who have turned Paul's metaphors into definitions, and erected a gigantic system of theology upon a few figures of speech. Bascom does not leave us in doubt respecting his attitude toward one of the so-called cardinal dogmas: "The dogma of justification, as a forensic act, springs out of the dogma of a supernatural regeneration, and from the two arises the dogma of an atonement, in which the sufferings and righteousness of Christ take the place of our own righteousness and sufferings. Thus we build up a theological blockhouse in defiance of ethical principles, and we pass righteousness backward and forward as if it were a commodity of the market." In the last two chapters, "Pietism" and "Spiritualism," we enter a realm more ethical than philosophical, and yet a region of intense thoughtfulness. In the former, the one-sidedness of many forms of piety is noted, and a plea for manliness and practicality in religion is made, and a broad spirit and policy are urged upon the church: "Our purpose is not so much to crowd and huddle the fugitives of the world into the church as a place of immediate safety as it is to march a conquering church into the world for its instant renovation. The community is the larger of the two ideas. till the church is coextensive with the community will it be continuous with its own blessings." In the last chapter the need of spirituality is enforced, as that grace and power which alone can protect man from Not gross materialism of life, and which is necessary to hold intellectual efforts to noble uses and permanent blessings. This is indeed a deep, invigorating, and instructive book, which provokes thought and opens new horizons,-the best office that any book can perform. It brings a breath of health to the soul. JOSEPH HENRY CROOKER. UNITARIANISM A "MOVEMENT," AND NOTHING MORE? "Unitarianism is a movement, a tendency of thought." Such is the phrase, vague and inadequate enough, which commends itself to certain minds. Granted, for the moment, that the statement is true, the urgent question presents itself, "Need it remain only a movement?" Why will men assume that our Liberal Church must lose something vital, if more perfectly organized? The steam escaping uselessly from a cauldron is no more steam than when made to send its power through wheel and lever, to advance the commerce of the world. How often the Pharisaic phrase falls unconsciously from our lips, "Oh, we are not a sect (with the implication, "Thank Heaven, we are above that!"): we are a part of a 'liberal movement' " ! Alas that we are such Hamlets of indecision or such sophists of speculation or such Harold Skimpoles of irresponsibility as to be content with so chaotic a condition! For, whether it be a lack of clearness and conviction in our thought or a lack of practical common sense in our policy, we are recreant to our trust if we do not try to bring our gospel of light and liberty to the great mass of the people in any way that shall best serve to reach them. "In any way." Why, then, will we ignore the fact, we vague dreamers, that the working world must have more definiteness, more concreteness, in its religion, and that it always desires, in its intellectual timidity, to “belong" to something, to some organized body, the larger the better? Why should we, the few who happen to be able to stand mentally alone, deny to the many that re-enforcement of their thought and feeling which comes from union with a large company? Why should we persist in living upon an open veranda the cold year through, when within awaits us a warm room? "Be- of the Church. In art, in painting, or in cause of the narrowness, the limitations"? Then make the room as large as you wish; but let it be a room, a "living room," with warmth and beauty and increasing associations. What if Saint Paul had contented himself with being "a part of a Tendency?"-even spelling the word with a very large capital. Thank Heaven, he was not. The Christ had passed, having finished his peculiar mission; and Saint Paul hastened to organize the followers of the Master. If he had merely journeyed through the various cities and left an "influence" or a "tendency," he would have failed in his duty; and his duty is our duty. The Pauls are many, but the Christs are few. When we read of the rapid growth of other denominations, we often exclaim, with eyes piously upturned, "This worldly success of mere (?) numbers is not for us." Thus we utter the same phrase that a certain disappointed fox uttered on a similar occasion. Yet how pathetically inconsistent is the delight we often exhibit over some microscopic gain in numbers or strength! This is the question that faces us. No particular questions about particular methods of organization, but this. Do we not see that by greater organization, by greater external unity, corresponding to our remarkable internal unity, our "movement" would lose nothing essential, and the world at large would gain immeasurably? We make a pitiful mistake if we think that we alone carry in our midst the treasure of liberality. The Broad Church in England-as witness its sermons-has more breadth and catholic spirit than has any other branch of Christ's Church. What we do have is the liberal form, the intellectual statement, which should go with that spirit. A "movement," forsooth! Have we not read with regret the history of another recent "movement, "--the Free Religious movement? And has the record of that brave but fatally unorganized attempt no lesson for us? Admit, for a moment, that the mass of the people, the devout multitude, half fed by half-truths, do need unity of statement, of liturgy, and the like,-results of thorough organization, then what prevents us from offering it? We delude ourselves if we think our theological position so elevated and unique that it will not bear statement and use similar to those of other branches music, we do find vague elements that can only be defined as "tendencies"; but that is in an airy world, quite apart from the daily religious needs of the working world. To see the need of closer organization among our scattered wandering liberal societies, that is the first step. Then methods will more and more clear themselves. High amid the hills lies a clear, deep lake, fed by fountains which a prophet's staff had smitten from the rocks. Afar upon the plain rise the walls of a city, and the cry of a people's thirst. Who will liste o the cry, and help to build cisterns and pipes and conduits that shall bring the waters of life into perishing households? BRADLEY GILMAN. HOW TO HELP THE SOUTH. So many people have spoken to me of their interest in the South and their desire to do something for our cause there that I take this means of telling them where their help is likely, in my opinion, to do the most good. As we are not a large Church, and the South can only receive a part of our aid, I purposely limit my suggestions to a few objects: He In Middle Florida, Rev. I. C. Gibson of Mount Pleasant, Gadsden County, is doing the work of an evangelist in the region extending from Apalachicola to Quincy. must depend for the coming year on the support given him by voluntary offerings from individuals or local alliances there and at the North. In Middle Texas, Rev. Nicolai Schultz of Fort Worth is doing a similar work. He has proved himself self-sacrificing, earnest, and able in many ways. He, too, must depend for the coming year on contributions from friends of his work. In Asheville, N.C., a new society has been formed; and Mr. C. T. Sempers, recently of Cambridge, is preaching there. Like every other new society formed at the South, this young church must be accornpanied by the good will and lively encouragement of its friends elsewhere. If a few people of wealth who have visited Asheville, or have become interested in it in other ways, would unite to build an attractive, but not necessarily costly, chapel there, it would insure the success of this movement, and be a blessing to those of our faith who go to this health-giving city for its repose and cure. The ladies of the Church of All Souls' in Chattanooga, Tenn., will hold a Christmas sale in mid-December, and contributions to that sale would help our excellent and promising society there. Articles may be sent to Mrs. E. D. Towle. If the education and elevation of the colored youth of the South seem most important to any, I can cordially recommend the work of the Tuskegee Normal School, under the charge of Mr. Booker Washington, Tuskegee, Ala. There are other opportunities for our Church at the South which will probably receive the support of the Association if the forthcoming contributions to that organization warrant enlarged missionary enterprise. But the objects already named are already in the field, and are ready now to receive whatever may be cheerfully extended to them. GEORGE L. CHANEY. INTERNATIONAL THOUGHT EXCHANGES. The "known world" is making remarkable strides in knowledge of itself. An international congress of geographers has just been held in Berne, well attended by delegates from Europe and America; and one of its most interesting tasks has been the designation of those patches of the globe that remain to be explored. In order further to demonstrate conclusively the limits of our collective knowledge of the surface of the earth, -its physical features, its races, and its political divisions,-it has been arranged that an international commission of savans shall unite in making a great sectional map of the world, upon a uniform scale. Another international congress-this one composed of geologists-has just been held in Washington; and its wise men will, through their interchange of observations and opinions, have added very much to the sum total of our knowledge of Time's processes in the preparation of this world for the inhabitancy of its present swarms of sentient beings. An international hygienic congress in London has within a few weeks thrown a flood of light upon the means by which the modern medical and sanitary sciences have been enabled to add notably to the longevity of civilized races, and by which many of the most fatal scourges that have afflicted mankind may at an early day be wholly extirpated. An international postal congress, assembled recently in Eastern Europe, has added much to the perfection of means for the cheap and rapid dissemination of intelligence throughout the world. An international labor congress, convened in the name of workingmen, has at least given evidence of a wondrous widening of vision and growth of intelligence on the part of the once disorganized and ignorant sons of toil. And the official international conference called not very long ago by the young emperor of Germany, to consider legislation for the welfare of labor, was a yet more notable sign of the growing "internationalism" of the day. The successive "World's Fairs" are not content to promote more intimate knowledge of the world's commercial resources, and to exhibit the inventions and skilled handiwork of mankind; but they are also made the occasion for a long series of international congresses and gatherings for the consideration of all kinds of subjects of large human concern. This was true of the recent Paris Exposition, and it will be true of the coming Exposition at Chicago. adays no man knows his science or his art completely until he has learned what all other countries besides his own may be able to teach him. Now To fill their censers where all sweets do lie; The bright young eyes that shame our sadder gaze; The ships far out at sea, with graceful sail The never silent, ever-sounding sea,- The music of the lonely forest trees, The glorious harpings of the solemn pines, Standing forever true, for praise or prayer; The whispers, sweet or sad, that passing feet May win from lost leaves that have had their day, And music make, both when they slowly fall And gently lie, needing no burial; The wondrous orb that can behold all this, Like some bright temple roof begemmed with stars, And spread beneath so fair a temple floor, That men and babes might kneel and worship him. TUESDAY. The Deeper Beauty. But He who made us loves to manifest Himself, not only in the outward things. His hands have fashioned or his care pre served, But in the hopes and fears and thoughts of men, Till his Eternal Beauty ever shines WEDNESDAY. The Beauty of Strength. All strength is beautiful that roots itself arm Sheltering the shrinking. trusting little one; A mother's mighty love confronting greed Or lust or wrong, to save her own from harm; The barren rock,-storm-battered solitude,— An Eden fair to struggling, shipwrecked men Who feel its strength beneath their trembling feet; The unfailing blue; the eternal stars that stay |